Social media and youth electoral engagement within democracy.

Political Parties

Whilst Party systems in every democratic country vary wildly in significance and influence, political parties are often a potentially major avenue for democratic engagement in a number of countries including Australia and the United States.

Australia, home to a Parliamentary democracy, favours a two-party political system where two major political parties (groups of individuals from similar places on the ideological spectrum) dominate politics within a Government.

Both major political parties in Australia (the Liberal Party and the Labor Party) have youth programs, known as the Young Liberal and Young Labor movements respectively. Smaller political parties in Australia also have similar youth branches:

Whilst detailed membership statistics are not made readily available by any of the political parties listed above, it is clear that party membership has been steadily declining in recent decades, often with small increases shortly before an election.